OVERTHINKERS ANONYMOUS
This podcast is for any and everyone who struggles with overthinking or “getting out of their own head” . It is a no judgement, anonymous, and open platform that we can collectively discuss what is causing us inner turmoil. It will also be a space of encouragement and positive affirmation that you can use to propel your life forward.
OVERTHINKERS ANONYMOUS
Transforming Doubts Through the Power of Forgiveness
Can holding onto anger and resentment actually harm your well-being more than forgiving those who have wronged you? Discover the transformative power of forgiveness in our latest episode, where we unpack its crucial role in overcoming the emotional turmoil of overthinking. Reflecting on my own journey, I reveal how starting this podcast was a pivotal moment in conquering my fears and doubts, marking a significant victory not just for me, but for all of us grappling with overthinking. Celebrate our collective progress as we acknowledge our pain and the steps we've taken toward healing and wholeness.
We delve into the necessity of forgiveness, not as a favor to those who hurt us, but as an essential step for our own emotional and spiritual health. Imagine bitterness as an infection that festers within us—by embracing forgiveness, we can cleanse these wounds early, preventing further emotional and spiritual damage. This episode explores how forgiveness can transform places of doubt into sanctuaries of peace and comfort, enabling us to move forward in a more positive manner. Join me as we continue our journey towards a life filled with healing, assurance, and inner peace.
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If you need a Life Coach or Mentor to support you on your journey to freedom reach out to me @pamelagonsoulin@att.net
I've been up and down for so long. Crazy how right can become so wrong. The thoughts in my head Keep me on a constant rollercoaster and I just want some peace. Tonight Feels like my heart done, left me stranded, just floating away on a melody, leaving me to all my tears. I just hope somebody here Slendercise to come and rescue me, cause I've been through some pain and the only way to get past the pain are the prayers that pray to keep my sanity.
Speaker 1:Tell me, have you ever been caught up in your mind, so unaware of time, cause you can't stop thinking, oh, and it feels like You're breaking down inside. You wanna let it ride, ride, but you can't, cause you're overthinking it all. Am I really as good as I think I am, or am I stunting in my mind like they stunting on the ground? Father, please tell me again. Tell me again, cause your voice is so comforting On the days when I'm thinking with it, even after you said that I win. Told me walk bold, cause you're queen and I'm loving how you dream in your representation. No, you ain't perfect, but baby, you gon' make it. Yeah, yeah, baby girl, you gon' make it. So stop overthinking, stop overthinkingthinkers.
Speaker 1:Anonymous, and I am Pam Gonsolin. Thanks for joining me today on the journey to overcoming overthinking. We are almost at the close of season one, with only one more episode to go on next week. I have to say that I am so happy and proud of myself for starting this podcast. If you knew how long I thought about it and thought about it and thought some more about it before I actually started, you would know how much of a feat it was for me to finally finally step out and do what was in my heart. That deserves a clap Woo-hoo, and clap for yourselves too. If, since you've been listening to this podcast, you have been able to move past the overthinking to do something that was on your heart, the overthinking to do something that was on your heart. Give yourselves a clap because you actually did it. You did it. Isn't that awesome? Doesn't that feel good to actually have stepped out and done what was in your heart to do? I know I feel good. I hope that you guys are feeling good also with me.
Speaker 1:So today I want to continue our healing process that we began a few weeks ago. Each week we have been taking major steps to bring in healing and wholeness into our lives in an effort now to quell the voice of the overthinking that is sounding in our minds. That voice has been fuel, it has been ammunition for our unhealed places in our lives and in our hearts. But with healing, those places and those voices can turn into places of peace. Do you believe that? I believe that. I believe that those voices can turn into places of peace, places of assurance and comfort. I believe that. So we have faced our pain, we have acknowledged our pain and traumas, we have accepted that healing was possible and committed to the journey of healing, we have allowed ourselves to feel the pain and we have grieved the losses that we have suffered because of the pain and the trauma. And so our next step on this journey it's a big one. It's a big one. Are you ready?
Speaker 1:Our next step on this journey is forgiveness, forgiveness. Think about that for a moment. It's forgiveness. You know, forgiveness is for everyone. It's for everyone, for everyone. It's for everyone.
Speaker 1:Forgive others for any harm that they may have caused by trauma, and also forgive ourselves. Sometimes we need to forgive ourselves, we need to forgive ourselves. So we forgive others and we also forgive ourselves. We forgive ourselves Because sometimes we didn't know better, sometimes we were the one that put ourselves into the predicament Because we just didn't know better, we didn't have a clue, we were unsuspecting. Sometimes we just trusted too much, sometimes we trusted the wrong person. Forgive yourself, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't your fault, you didn't know. So you can forgive yourself and we forgive others. We forgive others for the trauma and the harm that they may have caused us, the pain that they may have caused us. Forgive others too.
Speaker 1:I know you know forgiveness on the outside. If you're looking at it from the outside, it seems to be for and about the person who did the wrong. If you're just looking at forgiveness from the outside, it all seems like it's for the person who did the wrong. It seems like it's all about the person that you know did you harm. It seems like it's about the person that offended you. It seems like it's about the person that caused you the trauma. Looking at it from the outside, but in actuality it is more for the person who the wrong was done to See. You've got to look at it with a careful eye. You've got to look at it with a careful eye Because you know, by you not forgiving them, it's not really doing them any harm.
Speaker 1:It's not really doing them any harm at all. You not forgiving them is not really affecting them at all. Because a lot of times, a lot of times, the person that did the wrong they're not even actually sorry. So you not forgiving them for something that they're not actually sorry about, that doesn't faze them, that doesn't bother them, they don't think anything of it. Forgiveness is not for the person who did the wrong, but it's more for the person who the wrong was doing too. Because guess what? By you not forgiving them, you are self-harming, self-harming. In other words, you are harming yourself. You are harming yourself. You are harming yourself. You're not harming them. It doesn't affect them, it doesn't have any you know any effect on them, but you're harming yourself by not forgiving. You're harming yourself. By not forgiving, you're harming yourself.
Speaker 1:When you walk around with unforgiveness in your heart, you start to build up anger, you start to build up resentment, resentment, and if you're not careful, a root of bitterness will spring up on the inside of you. See how much harm it does to you. You're not forgiving them. That's not going to cause them to be bitter and resentful. It's not going to cause them to be angry because you won't forgive them. That does nothing to them, but it does everything to you. Because guess what? When your anger and resentment turns into bitterness, then it's going to be much harder to deal with. It's going to be much harder to deal with. It's going to be much harder to get past it when you let it go and fester until it gets to bitterness. Because it doesn't turn to bitterness overnight, it doesn't turn to bitterness overnight. That's why I said it's a root that springs up.
Speaker 1:But when you're angry and you don't deal with it and you don't forgive, when you're resentful and you don't deal with it and you don't forgive, that anger and that resentment, it festers in your soul, it festers in your heart, it festers, you know. It's like you get a scratch and instead of it getting better, it just continues to get worse. It gets worse Because it might have just been a simple scratch but you might have allowed some dirt, some contaminants to get into it. And then, once you have allowed the dirt and the contaminants, germs, to get into the scratch, because you didn't take care of it by putting on some neosporin, some antibiotic and a Band-Aid on it to cover it up while it was healing, in the healing process, you just left it open, so contaminants got in it, germs and dirt and what have you got into it? And then, guess what? Because of that, it began to fester. In other words, you know what fester means? It was a simple scratch, but then, if you'll notice, once the contaminants got in it, it's red all around it, it's hurting, it could even get to the point of it starts oozing and get infected.
Speaker 1:It's infected now. That's what bitterness looks like. That's what bitterness looks like to your soul and to your spirit. It causes an infection. It causes an infection. And so now, what simple Neosporin would have taken care of? Or simple soap and water, just keeping it clean and putting a band-aid to cover it, giving it time to heal.
Speaker 1:What that would have taken care of now needs full-blown antibiotics. You've got to go to the doctor now and you've got to be given antibiotics. Sometimes you might even have to get a shot. Sometimes, if you let it go long enough without having taken care of it, sometimes you will end up in the hospital. Why? Because that infection started out as just a scratch, but it has now gone all throughout your body. They call that septic your body. They call that septic sepsis.
Speaker 1:When infection, it gets into your blood stream. And when it gets into your bloodstream it goes all throughout your body. That's bitterness. When bitterness gets into your heart, it doesn't just infect your heart, it goes all throughout your system. It infects your heart, it infects your spirit, it infects your heart. It goes all throughout your system. It infects your heart, it infects your spirit, it infects your mind. Everything that you do is dictated by that bitterness. So therefore, it's imperative that we cut it off at anger and, while it's still at the stage of anger and resentment, we cut it off and deal with it, take care of it before it gets to bitterness, because bitterness guess what? You know what bitterness does for your soul and does for your spirit?
Speaker 1:Bitterness will make you sour at life in general, just in general. You know anybody like that? They just seem sour at life. You could tell those who've crossed over into bitterness, because they're always negative. They're always critical of others. They're very, very critical of others. They're always negative. They're always mad at somebody. They're always angry, they're always mad. They always start mess and confusion amongst the family, amongst the friends, amongst co-workers. They just can't help themselves. They got some bitterness playing up on the inside of them that causes them to act out in that way. They're just sour at life in general, sour at life.
Speaker 1:I don't want you to be like that. I want you to forgive, forgive, we must forgive, we must forgive, we must forgive. We must let go of anger and resentment. We must put it to the side and have compassion upon ourselves. You know, a lot of times we may think that the person who committed the offense does not deserve compassion. But you deserve compassion. You deserve compassion. You deserve compassion. Remember I told you that forgiveness is more for you than for them. You deserve the compassion. Have compassion upon yourself and forgive. Forgive Because I told you, the forgiveness is for you, it's for you, it's not for them. I want you. The forgiveness is for you, it's for you, it's not for them. I want you to hear me today it's for you, it's all for you, it's not for them. So forgive, forgive. Let me tell you what forgiveness does for you. Let me tell you what forgiveness does for you.
Speaker 1:Forgiveness will allow you to have healthier relationships. Healthier relationships Because I'm not walking around resentful of you. I'm not walking around angry with you Because I haven't forgiven. I'm not walking around angry with you because I haven't forgiven, but I've taken the step and the time I've had compassion upon myself to forgive you, and so now our relationship is much better. You know, anger and resentment make relationships hard, but they don't have to be hard. They don't have to be hard. Sometimes. That's what we're accustomed to, that's what we're used to. Sometimes we think that that's what relationships are about. No, they don't have to be about that. Relationships don't have to be about that. Relationships don't have to be hard. If we learn how to forgive and move on, we can have healthy relationships.
Speaker 1:Forgiveness guess what? Number two forgiveness will help you to have improved mental health. Improved mental health, in other words, when you are able to forgive, you're going to have a better frame of mind. You're going to see things differently. You're going to see things in a better light. Because, guess what, as long as you're walking with unforgiveness and resentment and bitterness, it's going to cloud your vision. It's going to cloud the way it's going to affect the way that you see things. It's going to cloud the way it's going to affect the way that you see things. It's going to affect your outlook on life period. It will.
Speaker 1:Number three forgiveness causes you to have less anxiety, less stress, less hostility, because you're no longer mad, you don't have to be anxious when going around the person or being in the same environment, because guess what You're forgiven, it's less stress on you, it's not so much of a toll on you, on your mental health, on your emotional health, because you've forgiven. Number four forgiveness causes you to have fewer symptoms of depression. Mm-hmm, yeah, so forgiveness can relieve depression. Some of you are walking around depressed because you're angry. Do you know what depression is? Depression is anger that is frozen. Anger that is frozen and unable to be expressed, unable to come out, to be let out. So it's frozen, it's held on and held up, is held on and held up, and when that happens, that causes depression. So when I'm able to forgive and let go of that anger, let go of that depression, that resentment, it will alleviate depression, my depression, it will alleviate my depression.
Speaker 1:Number five forgiveness will lower your blood pressure. Your blood pressure all high, your blood pressure all high, your blood pressure just raging. Why? Because you got all of that stuff you're holding on to. Like I just said, you got that frozen anger, you're angry on the inside and you're holding on to it. You're holding on to it. All it's doing is raising your blood pressure. You're anxious, you're stressed. All that's doing is heisting up. The old people used to say heisting up. All it's doing is raising up your blood pressure. That's all it's doing for you. So when I'm able to forgive, it lowers your blood pressure.
Speaker 1:Number six forgiveness causes you to have a stronger immune system. Why? Because I'm no longer stressing, my blood pressure is lower, I'm no longer anxious. So guess what? See, when you're stressing, when you're anxious, when your blood pressure is high, that knocks your system all out of whack. Your system is all out of whack and it's constantly trying to find a balance. It's constantly trying to get back to a place of balance and a place of peace. And so when I can walk in forgiveness, I can find that peace and I can create now a stronger immune system. Because now I'm not just fighting. My system is not fighting itself. It's not fighting itself to stabilize itself. It can now fight all the other stuff that comes from outside. Because, see, your immune system Was built to fight off and ward off toxins and infections and different things like that. But sometimes our bodies Get overloaded Because it's fighting itself To stay regulated. It's fighting itself to stay balanced because we're stressed, our blood pressure is high, we're anxious, we're hostile. But when I can forgive, then my immune system can be used to fight what it was meant to fight the outside invaders, the outside germs, the outside toxins, not the insides.
Speaker 1:Number seven when I forgive, I have improved heart health, improved heart health. I just told you that. You know, when we don't forgive, you can, you know, have depression. Depression is frozen anger. That anger is stored in your heart. It's stored in your heart. So by forgiving I can have an improved heart health. When I let that anger go and that resentment go, my blood pressure goes down, my heart is better, feels better, is better, better Is better. Number eight by forgiving I have improved self-esteem, improved self-esteem. I feel better about myself, I feel more confident in myself, and so I have an improved self-esteem.
Speaker 1:And what does that do? Number nine it silences overthinking. Forgiveness will help silence overthinking, because you see, you're constantly playing that tape recorder over and over that rumination. But when you can forgive, let it go. That tape recorder, that particular tape recorder, that voice has to stop. It has to stop, it has to go away, it has to cease. So listen, the act of what hurt or offended you, it may always be with you, but I want you to make the intentional decision to let go of the resentment and the anger and make the decision to forgive. You can do it, even if you don't feel like it. I want you to say it with me right now Say I forgive, say it again, say I forgive and keep saying it until forgiveness happens in your heart.
Speaker 1:Keep saying it. Sometimes you heart. Keep saying it. Sometimes you got to keep saying it. Sometimes, when you say it at first, you don't really feel it. It just feels like just words that you're just saying. But if you keep saying it, keep rehearsing it, keep rehearsing it, then guess what it's going to eventually happen. It's going to eventually happen in your heart. You will have what you see. You will manifest what you speak. So keep saying it, keep rehearsing it, even if it doesn't manifest right away. Keep doing it until it does, until you've reached forgiveness, keep going.
Speaker 1:I'm trying to get you to a better place, a better frame of mind, but you're going to have to forgive in order to get there. Forgiveness is your ticket to wholeness and healing. It's time to cash in your ticket. It's time to cash in your ticket. It's time to cash in your ticket. Hop on the forgiveness train this week. Hop on the forgiveness train this week, cash your ticket in and next week we will see where we end up. We'll see where we end up. We'll see where we end up on next week. But this week you've got to cash your ticket and hop on that forgiveness train. You've got to take that ride. You've got to forgive. You've got to forgive them. You've got to forgive yourself. You got to forgive them, got to forgive yourself. Next week, when we pick up, we're going to see where we're going to end up. Thank you for joining me today and be sure to catch us next week for the final episode of the season of Overthinkers Anonymous. Bye-bye.